Sahukar
Also called: Sowkar · Topic: Colonial Economy: Land Revenue, Drain, Deindustrialisation · NCERT: Class 12, Ch 1 "Colonialism and the Countryside"
Meaning
A sahukar was a person who worked as both a moneylender and a trader. In the 19th-century Bombay Deccan, ryots (peasants) depended on sahukars for loans to pay revenue, buy seed and survive bad years. Sahukars used debt bonds and court cases to tighten their grip on peasants. They became the main symbol of rural oppression.
Example
During the cotton boom of 1861–65, sahukars lent freely to Deccan ryots. When the boom ended, they refused further credit. In 1875, starting at Supa in Poona district, ryots attacked sahukars and burnt their bonds and account books. These events are known as the Deccan Riots.
Don't confuse with
- Gomastha: a paid agent of the East India Company who supervised weavers. He was not a village moneylender.
Related concepts
- David Ricardo
- Ricardian theory of rent
- Rentier
- Bombay Deccan
- Thomas Munro
- Ryotwari system
- Temporary settlement
- Mahalwari system
- Malguzar
- Deccan famine of 1832-34